The 19th Abiko International Speech Contest was held co-hosted by Abiko City and AIRA and 15 participants made their speeches. Also, with the Tokyo Olympics coming up in three years, a lecture under the title of “The Olympics and Jigoro Kano” was given by Professor Masaki Fujiwara. (No.17-11)

Date and Time: Sunday, September 24, 2017 1:00 p.m. ~ 4:30 p.m.
Venue: Abiko Civic Plaza Hall
MC: Mr. Koji Ishihara and Ms. Le Thanh Huyen (Vietnam)
Participants: 15 speakers (7 junior high-school students, 2 senior high-school students, 2 university students and 4 adults)

This year there were a lot of junior high-school students among the participant. The contest started with the greetings by the emcees and the introduction of the judges.
Mr. Hideaki Sato, president of AIRA, said in his opening address, “In a speech contest what’s important is to convey your feelings. Please speak to the audience and tell what you are thinking about.”
Mr. Junichiro Hoshino, Abiko City Mayor, also gave an address.
“More and more people from other countries are visiting Abiko to attend events held in the city. I hope people will learn to communicate with foreigners using gestures as well as languages through various experiences.” In the contest there were five judges and the audience were also assigned a role of judging and voted for “Audience-judge Award”.

First, nine non-native English speakers made speeches in English, and then, six non-Japanese speakers in Japanese.

After all the participants’ speeches were performed, a lecture titled “The Olympic Games and Jigoro Kano” was held by Professor Masaki Fujiwara at Kawamura Gakuen Woman’s University.
In his lecture he explained the differences between the Ancient and the Modern Olympics. He also talked about Pierre Coubertin, who revived the Modern Olympic Games, Jigoro Kano, who was a member of its committee, the first Japan’s participation in the Olympics, and 1940 Tokyo Olympics which was planned but not realized. He attracted the audience with his lecture using documents and images shown on the projector screen. It was a timely lecture for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games coming up in three years.

The judge results were announced and the award ceremony was held.
Finally Mr. Toshibaru Kurabe, Chief of Abiko City Education Board, gave a general comment. He referred to those who participated again this year and performed much better than last year, those who tried to express themselves smiling and gesturing, and the junior high-school students who were successful in conveying their thoughts with their own words. He expressed his hope that the contest would develop more hereafter.

After the speech contest was successfully completed a tea party was started by an emcee Mr. Kuroda from AIRA. Some participants of the contest and Ms. Huyen, one of the emcees, gave comments about the contest. Relieved from the tense during the contest the participants had a relaxed and enjoyable time talking with each other.

The results of the judge are as follows.

■ AIRA President Award

Kai Shirasugi, third year at Hakusan Junior High School
Title: Bright and Cheerful Greetings
Contents: The importance of greetings which I learned through experiences abroad

■ Abiko Mayor Award

Mio Takahashi, third year at Kohoku Junior High School
Title: Calligraphy
Contents: International exchange through calligraphy

■ Abiko City Education Board Award

Hiroto Saito, third year at Kujike Junior High School
Title: The Power of Words
Contents: The power of words which I learned through reading 三国志 “Romance of Three Kingdoms”

■Chuo Gakuin University Award

Nako Endo, third year at Edogawa Gakuen Toride High School
Title: Another Culture Changed My Life
Contents: The importance of understanding other cultures I learned through experiences in the US

■ Kawamura Gakuen Woman’s University Award

Lian Guan San, first year at Tokyo Metropolitan University
Title: Hikari (Light)
Contents: I got an eye surgery right after I came to Japan. I feel grateful for the help I got. I’m also impressed to see classmates always help a student with hardness of hearing in the class.

■ Audience-Judge Award

・Hitomi Fukuoka, third year at Kohokudai Junior High School
Title: My School Life in Japan and China
Contents: I was born in China and came to Japan three years ago. I realized the differences in school life in China and Japan.

・Ahmed Manzoor, first year at Matsudo Minami High School
Title: my Experiences in Japan
Contents: After coming to Japan I became stronger and more responsible through experiences in daily life and school life.

 

■ Judges:

Hideki Sato (AIRA President and President of Chuo Gakuin university)

Akira Aoki (Abiko Vice Mayor)

Toshiharu Kurabe (Chairman of Abiko Education Board)

William Kischuck (professor at Kawamura Gakuen Woman’s University)

John Bauman (English instructor at Chuo Gakuin University)

(Translated by Chizu Yamaguchi)